Unthawing
by jubbery
Summary: One night a little boy meets a lonely ice princess playing in a frozen hall. A collection of drabbles. Flynn x Elsa.
1. Chapter 1

"Do it again, again!"

Sharp crystalline magic nipped and frosted between her fingernails, as she shaped and molded the air between her fingers into kindergarten ice sculptures. A rabbit, with a chipped ear, a bird with two lumpy heads and a small 'e', for his name. He held it on his palm.

"Wow..." He breathed, the ice was starting to pour between his fingers.

She put a stray hair behind her ear, "It melts really fast.. I'm still trying to get the hang of making things."

"So you're like a fairy? A frost queen?" The sparkle in his eye made her chest swell up in pride.

"No. I'm just Elsa." She said, though her smile wanted to admit she was something more. "I don't think I'm supposed to be talking to other people I don't know..."

He ignored her, and continued to request crazy, fantastical things, she sighed, and responded in kind with a flick of her wrist. Ice danced and sparkled across the ceiling of the Grand Hall. He cheered and danced with every burst of snow, hardly feeling the cold, stillness of the air, and the numbing of his fingers. She fed on his praises and wide-eyed wonder until she was dancing in the middle, throwing bouts of snow to the side and creating giant snow monkeys that towered 8 feet above their heads.

The magic that happened at midnight, it was their secret. It wouldn't have happened if Elsa had done as she was ordered that night, and kept to her room instead of sneaking out to perform her daily ritual. A short magic practice for good luck, done when there were no sharp-nosed adults prodding her to keep to herself, to keep her magic at bay. In these few 15 minutes, she was free. And as always, it felt _good._

But she wasn't alone in that Grand Hallway that night. Because _he_ was there, a lone little boy, hiding behind a knight statue. She did not know where he came from or how he came to find her.

And at this moment, she frankly couldn't care.

"Woah, do it again!"


	2. Chapter 2

The boy that came by ('Eugene' he says was his name) wore a large satchel that fell from his waist to his hip. Usually, he carried it across his shoulder, but today he decided to let it down. The strap was knotted crudely to fit his height. It was a grown-up's satchel no doubt. One night she decided to ask him about it.

"I was born with it." He shrugged, casting his eye down. "It's no big deal."

She knew well enough that children don't come into the world with large, leather satchels. But there was something about his small, instinctive lip-nibbling that made her feel it wasn't okay to press on.

She showed him a small display of new tricks she'd been practicing earlier. His eyes wore the same wide-eyed wonder as before, though Elsa could notice the thin, trembling in his cheeks when he'd stretch a smile too long.

Once the night ended, he slipped off into the dark and Elsa would close the doors of the Grand Hall before she could see where he disappeared off too. Tonight, Eugene slung his bag over his shoulder, and Elsa could've sworn she heard something heavy move inside. She looked back to check but he was already gone. Strange... he doesn't usually carry anything in his satchel. Maybe she was just sleepy.

Elsa closed the door, and slipped back inside the covers of her bed. Sleep came quickly and soon she was lost in dreams of jumping sheep and waterfalls of chocolate fondeu.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Whack!**_

The sound cracked through table, ripping her awake from cherry-coloured dreams. She looked up, and was met with stern, brown eyes that peered through slitted eyelids. It was her private tutor, Miss Gretta. A woman that was always equipped with a long ruler to slap the princess back into position whenever she fell out of line. The girl realised she must've fallen asleep while Miss Gretta was reading from the book of Arendelle History and Politics. Elsa blushed, wiped the drool trickling down the side of her lip, and collected herself back into position.

" _No sleeping in class, princess!"_ She hissed, spraying saliva on every word. "Pay **attention!** "

The little girl could only nod meekly. She clutched her pen tight between her fingers and kept her head bowed low. She didn't dare look up, fearing Miss Gretta's authoritarian glare, and the shower of saliva that usually comes after.

"Now, read from page five hundred and sixty eight."

"Yes Miss Gretta."

Miss Gretta has always been a nasty, though Elsa could never dare say it out loud. It seemed to her that she was equipped with this perpetual look of disapproval, that seemed to say that whatever Elsa was to attempt, there was no way she could be succeed, or at least be completely perfect it. It made her feel uncomfortable.

" _The minister Anton Bjorg, was one of the first to follow up with the Eight Statement declaring the Peace Treaty.."_

Despite this, she was an excellent teacher. Miss Gretta always pushed her into harder topics whenever the current one appeared even remotely easy. And sometimes when Elsa would play in the garden, she'd overhear her teacher boasting about her student's superior academic skills. That always made her feel happier.

 _"...as a response the lower and middle class sunk 8-9% lower as compared to the..."_

On a few occasion the woman would mutter under her breath about her old students back at the previous school she worked in. During those time, Elsa would have to lean in close to catch a few words. Her mutterings always tend to be positive, and heavily nostalgic.

 _"...and on that day three laws were passed as a result of the economic..."_

She wondered what it'd be like to have classmates sometimes.

 _"...and the rise of.."_

Maybe Eugene has classmates?

 _ **Whack!**_

The ruler came down as sudden and abrupt as before. "PRINCESS ELSA, PLEASE PAY ATTENTION!"


	4. Chapter 4

The Grand Hall was drenched. The ice that had collected that night had turned into deformed ice blocks that dripped rivers across the room. The maids were busy at work drying the room. when Elsa passed by, an armful of books between her arms from the study sessions earlier. They had buckets of water lined beside, and even more dry towels arriving as reinforcements.

"Princess Elsa!" They bowed briefly before returning to their work.

The little girl almost felt guilty for piling up the work. Usually, they cleaned up only a small bit of ice, and kept that a secret from her parents. It was a good thing they weren't here. If they had known she snuck out for magic practice, well, Elsa wouldn't want to know what happens next.

"...more today don't you think?"

It seemed the maids had already forgotten she was there. Adults often like to forget little children exist. Even princessess. Elsa thought that it might be because children are a lot smaller, and adults don't like looking at their toes.

"Well as long as she's happy."

"You know whose not happy?" One of the servants asked.

"Who?"

"Lady Gretta that's who! Someone stole her necklace. That silver one with the green emeralds."

" _Stole?!"_ Elsa heard one of the maids scoff, "In this palace? Not likely."

"It's true! And don't be an idiot, this palace barely have the guards after the queen and king reduced staff. Sad to see Bobby go."

"Oh you had a shine for him didn't ya?"

Elsa let the conversation disappear behind her. So her teacher had something stolen from her? She remembered that necklace. It was a gift from her mother. It wasn't particularly valuable to the family, and really, her mother was about to throw it out until Miss Gretta came by. Nevertheless her teacher had always held that particular piece of jewelry close to her heart.

She didn't know anyone who had the capacity to steal from the woman, unless – well... Didn't Eugene have something in his satchel the other night?

What was she thinking there was no way Eugene would ever steal from the palace. Would he? Elsa swallowed, and decided she should ask him about it the next time they see each other.


	5. Chapter 5

That day, Eugene wore a special sort of smirk at the corners of his lips. He wore it at the breakfast table, when the children in the orphanage were forced to slurp white, goopy oatmeal that dribbled like fat saliva between the gaps of their teeth. And again during playtime in the afternoon, when the rest of the children were kicking ball in the playground, Eugene sat in the shadows hitting his kneecaps together and smiling with that special smirk of his. It was no surprise when the ball started to get curious, and decided to bounce against one of the children's foot and straight into Eugene's face.

One of his front teeth popped out that afternoon. It was the skinnier, wobblier one of the two. He knew because he'd fiddle with it using the tip of his tongue a few times while staring at the sky, wondering about how many jumps he could do before his fingers reached the clouds.

When the nuns had found him, he'd cried so much that his snot was starting to mix in the blood and saliva pouring out of his mouth. He howled and howled 'till the nuns smacked his head and bellowed, 'SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP' so loud he bit his tongue out of fright. Of course that only made him cry more.

Eugene knew that he shouldn't be crying so much at his age. Especially because he's a _boy_. But he couldn't help it, his tooth cracked off and it hurt, so he cried. His tounge bled, and it hurt, so he cried. No matter how much taunting, or vein-popping outbursts he'd cause from his wailing he couldn't stop his tears. The floodgates had opened, and there was nowhere to go but out.

He wouldn't even dare try tell this to the adults though. Adults don't listen to children. It was common knowledge. From the long nosed adults with the tight coats and silvery hand watches, to the nuns in the orphanage equipped with fat bible books and rosaries constantly dangling around their fingers. If they could, they'd replace kids with statues. Statues were quieter, prettier and much more obedient.

Eugene held his satchel between his arms. That 'thing' was hidden inside. He felt the warmth radiating from it, almost like it was breathing.

 _At least I have this_ , he thought, bringing the infirmary blanket over his head. He tucked his feet underneath him, and hugged the satchel closer to his chest.


	6. Chapter 6

That night Elsa greeted Eugene with her chin. She kept her feet together as she watched Eugene appear from that dark corner behind the knight statue, and her teeth set as the boy greeted her with the same sparkle from before.

"Hey Elsa, you know I've got more fun ideas that we could do! I was thinking them up all day, and look my tooth got off."

Eugene showed him the gaping hole in front, and the little girl stared curiously, before she ironed herself back into position again.

"Eugene." She called in the most authoritarian voice she could muster. Eugene's eyes fluttered to attention. She admitted his reaction sent her chest swelling in pride, despite the sour dread swirling in the pits of her stomach.

"I've got something important to talk to you about."

"What? Was it the snow slide idea from before? Yeah I know that was too intense wasn't it, I just thought it'd be cool you know, since you could make snow and things-"

"No that's not it." She frowned.

"Then what?"

Elsa pursed her lips.

"Come on, you could tell me."

 _Should I ask him?_ She thought, clutching the sides of her nightgown. _He could hate me._

He sighed, "Hey if it's something I did, then tell me. Nothings gonna happen if you just stand there and keep your mouth shut like that you know."

 _I guess he had a point._

"Well..." Elsa started, "I was just wondering if you got anything last night."

"Huh?"

She cleared her throat, and continued, "O-One of our maids said that someone's necklace disappeared and I was juts thinking that you might have seen it lying around or.."

Elsa's voice trailed off into incoherent mumbling. But Eugene could understand her perfectly well. She looked up, and watched his eyes turn glassier with each mumble.

"You think I stole it didn't you?" He spat. It was all he could do to keep his tears held back.

"N-No!" Elsa had never seen a boy cry before, and was more than a little concerned when his face stated to grow a shade of red under the dark.

"Yes you do! That's what they always do!"

"I just saw something from your bag when you left before and I was just asking-"

"It's a satchel, not a bag!" He cried, his voice echoed throughout the hall. "And there was nothing in there, just this-"

He grabbed his bag, and threw the thing inside between them. It landed with an angry thud, then Eugene huffed into a corner to cover the tears that were already spilling past his cheeks.

That _thing_ wasn't a necklace like she'd expected. It was a book.

' _The Adventures of Flynn Rider'_

"It was a Christmas gift okay?" He called over his back. "Sometimes people donate stuff to the orphanage and the nuns give it to us as presents."

"You're an orphan?"

He said nothing at this. Elsa leaned down to pick up the book.. It was thick, almost half the size of her palm. The title was intricately decorated, with trails of gold and silver weaving itself in and out across the letters. There was a painting of a man on the cover running across the bush. He held a crossbow on his hands, and wore a confident smirk that radiated throughout the pages. The book reminded her of one of the books her parents give to her sister for her birthday. She heard them talking sometimes, about how rare to get a book so finely illustrated. She started to wonder how on earth an orphan peasant like Eugene managed to get it.

"Theres pictures inside. " He mumbled. "I can't read but I like looking at it sometimes. See I never steal anything."

Elsa paused a moment. "I guess you're right. Here's your book back."

He took it wordlessly and hid it inside his satchel. They were quiet for a moment.

"You know... if you can't read, I can't teach you. I'm pretty good at reading."

"..You are?"

"Yeah." She smiled. "You want me to teach you?"

Eugene hesitated. He bit his lip, and picked at his nails. "I don't know.. it might be hard."

She shook her head, "No it's not that hard. You can borrow my old books. I don't need them anymore, anyway."

"..Well alright. I guess if you don't want them."

"So you want me to teach you?"

He thought for a moment. "Well... okay."


End file.
